Combined book and coupon unit



Sept. 17, 1940. SHEDD 2,215,163

COMBINED BOOK AND COUPON UNIT Filed Nov. '7, 1938 Patented Sept. 17, 1940 ooMBINEn 3001; AND ooUroN UNIT Hugh Franklin Shedd, Minneapolis, Minn. Application November '7, 1938, Serial No. 239,398

1 Claim.

coupon unit, primarily though not restrictively designed for advertising purposes, and in which the book and coupons are made up as a unitary .15 structure, each independently complete, with the coupons exposed beyond the. book proper and readily separable from the book, with the book, following separation of the coupons, maintaining its completed original form as a book for condo tinued reuse as such.

The primary object of the present invention is the assemblage in book form of a series of leaves bound in any usual or preferred manner within a cover section, with certain or all of the .15 leaves of a length to extend below the lower margin of the cover section to present a series of relatively short lengths of leaf material projecting below the coverof the book when the latter is closed or open and constituting the coupon section of the unit.

A further object of the invention is the provision of means whereby the separate elements of the coupon section may be readily and conveniently removed from the unitary structure,

. this provision leaving the book included portion of the leaf from which the coupon has been detached as a normal part of the book unit of the assembly.

The fundamental object of the invention is the provision of a combined book and coupon assembly made up as a unitary structure with the leaves which are to be bound in the cover to form the book unit merely extended in length beyond that required for the book unit to form so the coupon unit. Thus, the combined assembly, providing as it does the book unit and coupon unit, is through the characteristics noted of simple and relatively inexpensive manufacture, 'for it is only necessary to provide the leaves, or

40 certain of them making up the book unit, of a.

necessary length to provide the coupon unit, the leaves being bound in the cover in the usual way, wholly regardless for the moment of the coupon unit, and this operation is exactly the same as if 5 the coupon unit did not exist, hence the cost in labor of producing the combined assembly is no more, except for a slightly increased length. of paper, than would be required in the making up of the ordinary book. so The sections of the coupon unit are designed to be separated from the leaves of which they form an integral part by a line of perforations or weakening, and in order that the leaf from which a couponsection is detached shall remain u in proper order in the book, the line of perfora- This invention relates to a combined book and.

as coupon sections 3.

tions for detaching the coupon is slightly above the lower edge of the cover section and the coupon section is adjacent the bound edge of the leaf section of slightly reduced or offset width to insure a proper severance of the coupon sec- 5 tion and to further insure that the bottom of the leaf section will be within or slightly above the lower margin of the cover section.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of combined book and coupon unit, the book being shown open.

Figure 2 is a similar View, the book being shown closed.

I Figure 3 is an edge view, and

Figured is an elevation with the book' entirely open to show the adjacent leaves and coupons in flat relation.

The improved book and coupon assembly is made up of a series of leaf sections l which may be of single or double type and which are bound in any convenient manner within a cover section 2. The cover section may, of course, be printed in any manner to indicate the printing on the leaf sections within the cover, may bear advertising data such as the name of the, distributor or the like, and is to all intents and purposes, aside from the coupon sections, a regu- 'lar book designed to carry any information, ad-

vertising or otherwise, and to remain perma- .30

nently as a book for all accepted purposes.

The leaf sections l are, for the purposes of the present invention, extended in length beyond that length necessarily included within the cover sections 2. This extended length of such leaves '35 as'may be so formed, is referred to hereinafter These coupon sections may be of substantially the full width of the leaf seotions'with which they are integral or may be of less width, if desired. As shown, the cou- 40 pon sections 3 are of the full width of the leaf sections with which they are integral except for a narrow margin or cut-away portion 4 adjacent the bound edge of the leaf sections.

The integral leaf and coupon are arranged for convenient separation at will and to this end, this combined leaf and coupon is weakened for tearing on a line slightly above the lower extreme edge of the cover section, that is in line with the cut-away portion 4. This line of weakening is shown in the present instance as a line of perforations 5, though obviously any conventional weakening line may be employed. Through the cutaway margin 4, the separation of the coupon section is facilitated, and by arranging the tearing line above the lower margin of the cover section 2, the leaf section l remaining after the coupon section is removed is within the lower margin of the cover section, as it would be if made up merely as a book and which, of course, avoids the presentation to the eye of any projecting or unsightly edges of the leaves.

It will be apparent that the coupon sections are integral with the leaf sections and merely present a somewhat extended. length beyond that required for the book leaf. Therefore, in making up the assembly, the leaves with the integral coupon extensions are bound in book form with no more effort and expense than if the leaves alone were included, except of course for the additional length of material. This is a very material factor as it does not add to the cost of the book where merely completed as a book and yet affords the highly desirable and important function of the connected coupons.

We will assume for the purpose of explanation that the leaves of the book contain recipes including, among other ingredients, a particular ingredient, for example, milk, sold by the distributor.

The leaves of the book may have their recipes made up to present desirable foods of particular value during certain months of the year. That is to say, the first leaf of the book may be directed to recipesincluding the particular product of the distributor and which are of material value and benefit during the month of January, the succeeding leaves being similarly printed with recipes for succeeding months. Under these circumstances,- the coupon sections may be in the form of a calendar, the coupon sections attached to the respective leaves indicating the days of the month corresponding to the recipes on that particular monthly leaf. On the other hand, the coupon sections may contain a particular advertisement of the distributor advising the holder of the book that during the month for which the recipes on a particular leaf are designed the connected coupon section, if detached and presented, will entitle the holder t'o'some additional value in the commodity handled by the distributor. Again, the coupons may bear weather indications to the particular months, may have some particularly attractive recipe, or may, at will, bear any data imparting any desired information from the distributor to the holder. The coupons may be removed at will and if inthemselves of value may be retained and usedindependently.

It will, of course, beapparent that conventionally the book will be constructed of a width of paper making up two leaves folded for binding purposes and that the cut-out 4 provides a space between the adjacent edges of the coupon sections of the double leaf construction, so that the leaves may be readily folded for binding purposes without interference from adjacent coupons.

The book is preferably provided with a clip 6 closed.

hinged to the rear cover section with an inturned lip 1 to overlie the front cover section and. hold the book closed. The book proper is also pre-- ferably formed with an opening 8 near the upper edge for cooperation with a nail or the like to keep the book in sight and readily accessible.

Advertisers aim to keep their goods before the public as long as possible and by attachingcoupons not only a book complete in itself but additionally to that book, a series of normally integral, readily detachable coupon sections which are at all times exposed beyond the book cover and which may be used for any purpose for which such coupon sections would be available.

What is claimed to be new is:

A combined book and coupon unit, a cover having front and back sections, leaves bound in the cover with their top and side edges disposed inwardly of the front and back sections, the bottom portions of certain of the leaves being extended for a sufficient length below the bottom edges of the sections of the cover to afford coupon sections, which, when the book is folded, extend below and are readable beyond the lower edges of the cover sections, the extension of each leaf forming the coupon portion being weakened to permit the independent separation of the coupon section from its leaf, the line of division being inwardly or above the bottom edges of the leaf sections to permit the terminal edge of the leaf carrying the extension to be spaced inwardly of the free edges of the cover sections when the coupon is removed, to an extent equaling the spacing between the upper and side edges of the leaves, inwardly of the edges of the cover section, each coupon extension of the leaf having its edge remote from the binding, edge of the cover in line with a similar edge of the leaf to whichit is at tached, the upper said edge of the coupon section terminating short of the bound edge of the leaf from which it projects, to thereby afford a convenient separation of the coupon section without liability of tearing or mutilating the leaf, the relation of the line of weakening between the leaf and the coupon section permitting the edge of the'leaves from'which the coupon has been removed to be concealed inwardly of the bottom edges of the cover sections when the cover is 

